Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper handpicked Allentown native Amanda Seyfried for 'Les Miserables,' an ambitious, star-studded musical widely considered one of the best films of 2012

When Amanda Seyfried walked through the gates of Pinewood Studios in London to shoot "Les Miserables," she was returning to the scene of her greatest triumph.

It was five years ago on the same sound stages that the Allentown native shot another musical "Mamma Mia!" opposite Meryl Streep. It not only became the most successful songfest of all time by scoring $600 million at the box-office, but it also turned Seyfried into a bona fide movie star.

Over the past five years, Seyfried has made 10 films, almost all featuring her in starring roles with big name co-stars. She's had hits (romance films "Dear John" with and "Letters To Juliet") and a few misses ("Red Riding Hood") but she's always pushed herself to try new genres like sci-fi ("In Time"), action ("Gone") and noir ("Chloe.").

Making "Les Miserables" was, she says, like coming full circle.

"I even had the same dressing room. It was the dressing room where I met [former boyfriend Dominic Cooper] for the first time. It was so crazy. We had a lot of the same crew guys. I had the same driver. It brought back a lot of great memories."

Beyond giving Seyfried the chance to walk down memory lane, "Les Miserables" offered the actress the opportunity to take part in a movie that has now been named one of the year's 10 best by the National Board of Review and is likely to be a Best Picture Oscar contender when the nominations are announced on Jan. 10.

The film also netted a Best Picture nomination from the Golden Globes and is in the running for Best Ensemble Cast by the Screen Actors Guild.

" 'Les Miz' is the coolest thing I've ever done in my entire life," says Seyfried, 27. "It's almost like a dream. [Co-star] Annie [Hathaway] keeps saying that, at some point, we're all going to need to be pinched. We have all been in love with this show forever. It's just been a great feeling having the chance to finally embody these characters that we've all grown up loving."

"Les Miserables" is based on the 150-year-old novel by Victor Hugo. The stage musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg is the world's longest running musical and has been seen by more than 60 million people in 42 countries around the globe. The show played on Broadway for 16 years and won eight Tony Awards.

The main character is Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a poor man once imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread who winds up assuming a false identity and becoming a wealthy factory owner.

Tracking Valjean is a by-the-books police officer named Javert (Russell Crowe). Valjean is being pursued so relentlessly by Javert, in fact, that he can't intercede on behalf of Fantine (Hathaway), a factory worker who is fired and forced into prostitution in order to support her out-of-wedlock daughter.

In the years that follow, both Cosette and the Thenardiers biological daughter Epinone (Samantha Barks) fall in love with the revolutionary leader Marius (Eddie Redmayne). Valjean, meanwhile, becomes something of a saint who never wastes an opportunity to extend a helping hand to those less fortunate.

Director Tom Hooper, who won an Oscar for "The King's Speech," says he auditioned many actresses for the role of Cosette before being won over by Seyfried.

"I searched long and hard for my Cosette," Hooper says. "Amanda has that amazing ability to command both disciplines [acting and singing], and on top of that she is mesmerizing on screen."

Beyond the $61 million film's epic scope, nothing distinguishes "Les Miz" from other musicals more than Hooper's decision to record all of the vocal performances live. The tradition in Hollywood is to have the actors lip-sync to pre-recorded tracks. But Hooper insisted on no lip-syncing and no over-dubs.

Seyfried, who rehearsed for nine weeks with the other cast members, was assigned a vocal coach with whom she'd warm up daily. Once on set, a radio mike was hidden in her costume and she was given an earpiece, which allowed her to hear the song played live by a pianist.

Seyfried says she is prone to sinus infections, so she put herself on a regimen of Chinese herbs, peppermint and organic oils to stay healthy.

"I was commuting from London to L.A., which was the stupidest thing in hindsight," she notes. "But I didn't want to be away from my dog Finn if I didn't have to be.

"I also drowned in water. I stopped drinking alcohol completely. I barely drank coffee. I had to make sure I got enough sleep and stayed out of the cold. I lived like a monk. We all did it. It was a big lifestyle change."

All the care was necessary, the actress insists, to work up the stamina she needed to meet the role's extraordinary challenges.